


Kaiju Groupie

by dutchydoescoke



Series: Ridiculous high school AU [2]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2013-08-02
Packaged: 2017-12-22 05:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/909719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchydoescoke/pseuds/dutchydoescoke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Newt isn’t </i>in love<i> with Hermann, and </i>especially<i> not the (completely ridiculous and seriously vomit-worthy) way that Raleigh was (and worse, </i>is<i>) in love with Mako.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Kaiju Groupie

**Author's Note:**

> ~~Blamed on~~ ~~dedicated to~~ ~~I hate you I swore I wouldn’t ship it~~ blamed on Jak, because reasons. Dedicated to Sara aka rubikovs on tumblr, as a late birthday present. Takes place before the final bit of You Like Me. Again, ridiculous high school AU, etc. etc.
> 
> warning for a brief mention of transphobia? and a ridiculous amount of degrassi references in one part.

Newt isn’t _in love_ with Hermann, and _especially_ not the (completely ridiculous and seriously vomit-worthy) way that Raleigh was (and worse, _is_ ) in love with Mako. For one, that would be ridiculously cliché, and his life already has enough cliché in it as it is, with Mako and Raleigh, and for another, Hermann doesn’t even actually know he exists, so. You can’t be in love with someone who doesn’t know you exist.

(That’s Newt’s story and he’s sticking to it.)

\---

He finds out Hermann does know he exists the way that most teenagers with access to the internet, too much spare time, and hyperactivity issues do, by which he means he finds out through Mako’s facebook page that Hermann was ranting about the “kaiju groupie” in his math class. (He and Mako apparently know each other through something or other. Mako had told him, but Newt had been busy staring at Hermann’s facebook page like he’d just found God, so it kind of went over his head.)

And, okay, Newt maybe likes to draw the kaiju in his notebooks during math, because basic math has never exactly been attention-grabbing for him, but that doesn’t make him a _groupie_. He finds the biology fascinating, and honestly, he kind of wonders how their brains work, but he doubts he’s ever going to get close enough to one to use the AP psychology classes he’s been taking on one.

Seriously, though, that doesn’t make him a _groupie_. But at least Hermann knows he exists.

\---

Tendo’s started drawing on his arms whenever Newt sits still for five seconds, something about needing _something_ to do to distract himself before he starts puking over Raleigh and Mako. Mako’s doing homework, and Raleigh’s staring at Mako with hearts in his eyes.

If life was a cartoon, Raleigh would have actual hearts for eyes right now, Newt’s sure. He hasn’t seen anybody look _that_ infatuated since... Actually, Raleigh pretty much sets the bar for looking infatuated. And it’s just gotten steadily worse since he finally got together with her.

So, he ends up with the kaiju doodled all over his arms, courtesy of Tendo, which has the upside of keeping Tendo from being physically ill over Mako and Raleigh’s relationship, and the downside of making him look even more like a quote-unquote “kaiju groupie”.

Hermann actually mutters it as he walks past to his seat in math and Newt stops because dude, seriously.

“I’m not a groupie” is not the greatest comeback in the world, but it’s the first thing out of his mouth anyway, because impulse control is not Newt’s strong suit.

“Your arms say differently,” Hermann says and Newt rolls his eyes.

“Fascination with their biology and a love of old movies does not make me a groupie. And Tendo is to blame for my arms. He keeps drawing on them.”

When Hermann snorts, Newt just walks away. Hermann is clearly wrong and just needs to sit there in his wrongness.

(Newt occasionally has the maturity of a ten-year-old with an icanhascheezburger account, and he’s well aware of this fact. Oh, well. It’s not like it’s his fault.)

\---

Newt’s life should be on MuchMusic or something, because seriously, between Mako and Raleigh’s Epic Romance (according to Tendo, that’s what the betting half of the school is calling it) and the fact that Hermann hates him, he’s starting to wonder if he got dropped into a teen drama.

(Okay, so maybe he needs to lay off the Degrassi. It’s not his fault that he’s way too invested in and over-identifies with Adam’s story. And no matter what Tendo says, he did not spend two weeks in mourning when Campbell died. And even if he did, at least he didn’t wear black the first day after like Tendo did.

He and Tendo have the tradition of getting together to watch it. Not that they’ll admit it to anyone else.)

Seriously, though, teen drama. His life could be Degrassi, except, okay, his life does not involve as many assholes as are on that show, and he’s only gotten in one fight the entire school year, and it was only to pull Tendo off of someone else for calling him a girl.

Hermann, though, drives home the teen drama feeling, because, okay, he’s not in love, but he’s definitely crushing, slightly. Hermann’s kind of a genius, and Newt can’t help but appreciate someone who can make numbers bend to his will like that, even if the two of them don’t get along.

\---

Hermann takes to muttering “kaiju groupie” when they pass in the halls and, okay, Newt’s comeback of “numbers nerd” is neither funny nor especially witty, so he’s not surprised when he just gets an eyeroll.

He really does like Hermann, and he wishes Hermann would like _him_ , so he tries to cut back on the mean replies. (He refuses to apologize for the kaiju drawn on him in sharpie. Tendo’s started yanking Newt’s shirt off so the drawings can continue up his arms to his shoulders, and the only parts of his torso not covered in ink nowadays are the parts covered by his binder. If it bugs Hermann that much, Newt’s not that into him anyway.)

(That, as Tendo doesn’t hesitate to tell him, is a complete and utter _lie_.)

(Newt doesn’t know how the soda ended up all over Tendo’s lap. No clue.)

\---

His attempts at being nicer don’t appear to go unnoticed, because Hermann cuts back on the groupie comments and, occasionally, even talks to him about the kaiju.

Hermann’s answer to it is numbers, of course, and Newt ends up spending half of lunch the next day explaining how he wants to try and get inside a kaiju’s head.

Hermann, to his credit, only laughs a little at him. Newt counts it as a win.

\---

Newt still isn’t in love with Hermann, and Tendo can stop laughing over the fact that Newt’s actually started paying attention in math because of it, like, now.

They’re kind of friends now. Only with more arguing about kaiju than most expected, but arguing aside, it’s kind of awesome. Even when Hermann mutters his standard insult (which, okay, is almost affectionate now), it’s awesome.

(Not that Newt really minds the arguments, especially when it’s in the middle of one that Hermann just drops his cane in favor of yanking Newt close and—well.

Yeah.)

(Okay, maybe Newt’s a little in love with Hermann.)

**Author's Note:**

> (And, in case it isn’t made clear enough, Newt’s trans. Because, lbr, this movie is awesome, and canon can only be made better by having a trans person.) (My brain went "there are too many cis boys in this fic, let's fix that" and, well.)


End file.
